Do you want to give up? I know I sometimes do ??

In an online world increasingly inhabited by grandstanders, wannabes and hucksters, it’s only natural for credible operators - solopreneurs, founders and professional experts - to shy away from putting themselves out there, creating content, putting forth an opinion, and building a presence in the marketplace.

I mean, who wants to compete with noisy, self-serving braggarts and pretenders? It’s tiring, and if we push harder just to be heard, does that mean we start looking and sounding like them?

I hear you!

The braggarts, wannabes and bro’ marketers are everywhere!

They’ve infected Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter … even LinkedIn, which for a long time was pretty much devoid of hucksterism, but now is full of people who are just trying to game the system in order to steal our attention and generate more likes, comments and shares for their posts.

"Not going viral? You're doing it ALL WRONG!" ??

Throw AI into the equation, which enables people to spew out mediocre content at scale, and it really does feel like the media and marketing landscape is going to hell in a hand basket.

But are things really that bad?

It certainly does feel like it some times.

Attract the right people

Now, we all want attention for our business and personal brands so we can attract the right people, those who might be interested in our products and services, or who genuinely like us for who we are and what we do and thus are happy to recommend us to their friends and peers (never forget the people who influence our prospective clients!).

But if the only way to get this attention in the first place is to throw away our dignity and personal integrity, to grit our teeth and get down into the marketing gutter with the showoffs and spotlight seekers, is this something we want to do?

Of course not.

But we have to compete if we want to grow our businesses.

If we can’t gain people’s attention, if we can’t cut through with our story and our message, we may as well save ourselves the effort and divert our time into other areas of our business.

That’s one strategy, but it also means you’ll likely become ‘invisible’, and that’s not a great place to be.

Stand up and be counted for all the right reasons

Being your industry’s ‘best kept secret’ helps no-one. Think of all the potential clients out there who could benefit from your skills and expertise, your knowledge and wisdom!

Remember, as professional experts and owners of service-based businesses, we’ve got so much more to offer than just out products and services.

There’s a bigger game at play here, one that we - as expert entrepreneurs - should be key participants in.

It’s time to draw a line in the sand!

Being good at what you do is table stakes today. Simply relying on your track record to bring in new leads, clients and customers is, for the large majority of businesses, unsustainable.

As the marketplace becomes more saturated and the noise levels rise, the people we serve - our audience - become ever more confused and frustrated.

If we stay silent, how can we help them?

If we remain invisible, how is that going to benefit the people who could do with our assistance, our expertise, our support and guidance?

Put another way, is it not selfish of us to not be out there and active online, helping people with our insights, ideas and experience? Bringing them into our orbit, so people better understand who we are, what we do, what our strengths are, and how we can help them overcome any issues, problems or challenges, relevant to our skills and expertise?

So where to from here?

It's time to draw a line in the sand, and start standing out for all the right reasons.

Let’s be bold.

Let’s take a stand.

Let’s not worry about the noise, the hucksters, the exaggerators and grandstanders.

Let’s run our own race.

Make our own mark.

Let’s make 2025 the year in which we - the good guys - change the game.

But, let’s do it with intention, with an open heart, a spirit of generosity, and genuine respect for our audience and the people we serve.

Are you in?

Onwards!

TY

My name is Trevor.

I help purpose-led business owners become clear and confident in how they leverage PR, content and digital communications for profit, impact and legacy.

Let me guide you on becoming a trusted, credible voice in your industry!

Want to catch up for quick no-obligation chat via Zoom? Got a question you want to ask me? Want to discuss how we might be able to work together? Let's do it! CLICK HERE TO BOOK A TIME WITH ME TO DISCUSS, or DM me here on LinkedIn

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